5
Grounding your wire is crucial to the safety of yourself and your vehicle in the event of a short
circuit. The chassis of your vehicle generally makes a good ground. However, vehicles today are
built with a combination of metals, spot welds, glued together uni-body panels and isolated
chassis components. Therefore, we cannot assume that a good ground will automatically be on
the chassis.
In most vehicles you should be able to locate an obvious ground near the fuse box. Your owner’s
manual may even tell you where the factory ground is. If you are unable to locate a ground point,
we’ll show you how to locate a ground. There are 2 ways to test your ground point.
TESTING YOUR GROUND POINT
CONTINUITY TEST
[ SET MULTIMETER TO 200 OHMS ]
1.
Set your multimeter to
Continuity Test
or
200 ohms
.
2.
Using the
black
lead, touch the
negative
(-) terminal of your vehicle’s battery
and then place the
red
lead on to your
ground point
. Your multimeter should
beep if it is a complete path. If it does not beep, look for another ground.
RESISTANCE TEST
[ SET MULTIMETER TO ]
1.
Set your multimeter to
Resistance Mode
or
Diode Check
.
2.
Using the
black
lead, touch the
negative
(-) terminal of your vehicle’s battery
and then place the
red
lead on to your
ground point
. A good ground point should read less
than .2 ohms.
Locate a secure bolt on your chassis. Use your multimeter to test.
STEP 2: LOCATE A GROUND POINT
LOCATING A GROUND POINT
